Pentagon
by Gummy Kitten
Summary: Sanji insists on trying to convince Nami that Usopp is just too dense to notice her feelings, but Nami's noticed a little something else about her love interest that speaks for Sanji's density. SanUso. Mild Slash. Only implied sex.


He felt rather content, sitting at the kitchen table with the side of his face smashed flat against the wooden surface, mouth hanging open and drool leaking out all over the table. Even when Luffy entered the room and started tromping around as a distraction, he hardly noticed.

"Usopp?" Luffy poked the side of Usopp's head, but there was no movement. "Nami." Luffy turned to his navigator who was sitting cross-legged on her lawn chair, skimming the week's newspaper. Her eyes flicked to him from above the newspaper, and Luffy pointed at Usopp. "He died."

Usopp erupted from his seat and smashed his knuckles against the top of Luffy's head. "I'm alive, you idiot!" He barked.

"Hey, no violence in the kitchen." Sanji walked in carrying a stack of new plates, and looked around the room. "What are you three idiots doing in here anyway?" His head whipped to Nami. "Nami-swan! I'm just about to start dinner, is there anything special I can make for you?"

Nami shrugged. "Anything's fine."

Sanji's spirits shattered. "What about you then, marimo?" Zoro was cross-legged and leaning against the wall next to the door with his arms folded behind his head, having formerly been asleep.

He still only had one eye open. "Likewise. What Nami said." He yawned, and started to get up. As he did, he clumsily bumped Sanji's shoulder, and Usopp watched, scowling as Sanji ducked his head, hoping to hide his reddening cheeks behind his hair.

It was annoying. Zoro didn't pay a shred of attention to him unless he was insulting him, treated him like a piece of crap, and Usopp had gathered that Sanji quite clearly had some sort of feelings for the swordsman. Of course, his feelings were more obvious with Nami, but with her it was the same deal. Maybe if he started treating Sanji like shit all the time he'd get noticed.

Only problem was, Sanji sure as hell didn't deserve that, and there was no way Usopp could pull it off. In fact he sometimes wondered how the others didn't notice what a special person Sanji was, and maybe treat him a little better.

"You two? Any preferences?" He looked to Usopp and Luffy, and grouped them together as usual.

"MEAT!" Luffy shouted, cutting off Usopp's attempt to agree with Zoro and Nami, and pretty much drowning him out of the picture completely.

Usopp sighed, and rested his head in his palm. Who was he kidding? Even Luffy had a better chance with Sanji than he did.

"How did I know you'd say that?" Sanji rolled his eyes and walked past the table and toward the kitchen. "Hey Usopp, is something bugging you?" He asked. Usopp was taken by surprise, and looked up, catching the gaze of that one concerned, wide blue eye. "You've been kind of emo lately." He cocked his head.

"Emo?" Usopp scoffed, and sprung out of his seat. "You're walking around with that hairstyle and calling _me_ that!" He barked. Sanji just stood there for a few moments, staring at him as if the association had gone way over his head.

"Whatever." He shrugged, and just got back to cooking. Usopp crumbled into his chair and slouched, feeling somehow exhausted by all of this.

"Hey Sanji." Nami's voice rung out, and Sanji looked up to her in askance. "Can I talk to you outside the kitchen?" She asked, folding the newspaper and setting it down beside her.

Despite the fact that he'd just began cooking, Sanji made absolutely no objection. "Yes Nami-swan! Anything you need!" He practically skipped after her. He was just about the only one who didn't notice the slightly dark aura that surrounded Nami as she left the room.

…

"Is something wrong, Nami-san?" Sanji asked, because he'd definitely noticed once things had calmed down. He puffed at his cigarette, standing behind her as she gripped the ship's railing and scowled down at the wooden planks in front of her feet.

"Usopp." She said, and held her face in her palm. She didn't want to reveal the obvious truth about Usopp's feelings for Sanji, because Sanji was apparently too busy fawning over Zoro to notice them. On the other hand, Sanji was the only one who knew about her own feelings, and she would've liked to keep it that way.

"Shit." She gripped the railing harder.

"Nami." Sanji stepped forward, and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder, hoping she wouldn't take it as something perverted.

"He doesn't even try to notice a damn thing I do but…" He could feel her whole body shaking. "I can't even hold it against him because he's obviously having the same problem that I am…"

"He's a dumbass." Sanji said, puffing at his cigarette and letting the smoke roll from his lips. "Just like the marimo. No matter what you do, you'll probably have to spell it out for him to even notice." Of course, in Sanji's case, he never did anything to try and get Zoro to notice his feelings, as that was the last thing he wanted. Zoro already hated him, and if he found out, it would only make things worse.

Nami laughed a little. "You're one to talk." She dug her fingernails into the wood underneath her hands. She loved Usopp, and wanted to be with him, but if he didn't want the same thing, then what she wanted more than anything was for him to be happy. If Sanji was what would make him happy, then maybe…

"…Nami?" He blinked, wondering what the hell she meant by that. It didn't matter though, what mattered was that he had to suppress the urge to kick Usopp in the face most of the time. More than anyone else on the ship, Nami deserved to be happy, and he couldn't even so much as pay attention to her long enough to notice that he was what would make her happy. Sanji had advised her to try and find ways to spend time with him, and drop hints here and there. She was a girl, so it wasn't as risky for her as it would have been for him.

He'd watched her offer to help Usopp make his dumb little inventions, ask him to make something for her, or ask him to hold utensils while she drew maps. She also brought up money related excuses, like that he owed her some imaginary fee just to talk to him. That last part wasn't exactly what Sanji had in mind with the suggestion, but Nami was Nami.

And after all that, almost a month later, and Usopp was still just as clueless as ever. Either he was still hung up on that blond he'd told Sanji about from his village, or he was inhumanly oblivious.

"Don't worry Nami, he'll come around." Sanji stepped up beside her, and tried to get her to look at his face. "After all, you're untouchable to everyone else." He smiled, and took a drag of his cigarette. "If he doesn't open his eyes and realize how god damn lucky he is, I'm going to kick him."

Nami chuckled, but a part of her just really wanted to kick Sanji for the same reason.

Later in the day, after Franky and Robin got back from wherever the hell on the island they'd gone, Nami had come up with a brilliant idea. She decided that she was above all this. A girl as cute and appealing as her shouldn't have to hide her feelings! Even if she got rejected, she had Sanji and the rest of the crew to fall back on, and at least then she would know.

And on the off chance that he accepted her feelings… her heart sped up, and she practically jumped out of her seat to find Usopp.

He was busying himself making some extra ammo for whatever battles might be ahead. Perhaps just to get his mind off everything else, but hell, it needed to be done regardless of why he did it.

"Hey Usopp." Nami crossed her arms over her chest with an innocent smile. "I was thinking~" the giggle the put after that phrase made Usopp shiver in regards to the ten-thousand berries he'd saved up. "Since you owe me so much money, maybe we'd just call it even with whatever you have right now if you escort me around this disgusting island to shop."

Usopp stared at her, blinked, "I'll pay you back when I get the full thirty thousand." He said, and then looked back to carefully drip Tobasco into the open top of the fragile rubber ball. "I'm pretty busy right now…"

"Oh." Nami suddenly felt like an idiot. "Well then, nevermind…" She thought for sure this would be an offer he couldn't refuse, and a good way to get Usopp alone so she could tell him.

She decided this time, once again, she'd just cut her losses and walk away, shrug it off as one of his crazy whims.

Frowning, Usopp looked after her from the corner of his eye, wondering to himself if he'd ever work up the guts to let her know he knew before she could really make a fool of herself. Or at least, do something that might make her feel foolish.

Nami was surprised to find herself walking into the kitchen. She'd done it sub-consciously, probably because it was nearly time for lunch, but Sanji was the only one there. This was a bad thing, as she her 'just walk away' plan was starting to become faulty the more times it failed. Sanji of all people would've been able to sense the heartache, and she couldn't keep whining to him over it knowing he was going through the same thing, had his own problem to deal with.

"Nami?" He turned his head though, almost as soon as she walked in as if he'd sensed her. "What happened?" He asked.

_Great_. Nami snorted to herself, and leaned against the countertop near the door. He didn't even ask if she was okay, didn't even give her room to lie.

"I'm just…" She sighed, and crossed her arms, looking down. "…getting tired of this." She shrugged. "He's either already rejected me in his head or he's completely oblivious."

Sanji put down the knife he was holding, and took a few steps forward.

"I don't know why I'm still trying."

Nami's face was the saddest Sanji he'd seen it over something personal since Arlong Park. She wasn't one to let her own individual feeling get to her, she was strong through logic, and go through things without a fuss. He must've really done something this time… or perhaps it was just too much build up.

"Nami-swan…"

"Hey, Sanji…" Nami turned her head. "You gave up on Zoro, right? How'd that go for you?"

Sanji sighed. "I don't recommend it." He said, tilting his head sympathetically. "I have good reasons for forcing myself to do that, and you don't have to do it. Usopp is just blind, he can't see what's right in front of him." Sanji puffed at his cigarette. "Maybe because of that nose of his." He mused.

Nami laughed under her breath, then sighed, thinking only that for Sanji, it must've been his hair getting in the way. To her, Sanji was more blind than Usopp… spending all his time looking to the people who felt nothing for him but friendship and for some reason developing feelings for them when the best anyone could have was already head over heels for him. Then again, that was only her point of view.

She was torn. Torn between satisfying her own desires and just striving to make Usopp happy. She wanted him, but she wanted him to be happy. It was a cliché predicament, but one she vowed to make the best decision over.

"I gotta go do some shopping." She said. "I'll be a little late for lunch."

"Probably not." Sanji shrugged. "I'm a little late making it." He said, delicately. She shrugged, not really interested, and waved him off half-heartedly as she left.

Sighing to himself, Sanji returned to his cutting board and got back to work.

Usopp walked in not five minutes later. Well he didn't so much walk in, just looked around the corner at first, and then took some careful steps inside, as if sensing something was off.

"Eh? Lunch isn't ready yet?" He looked around. "I thought I saw Nami come in here…" He looked at Sanji, who was very loudly cutting vegetables.

"How long is it going to be? It's a good thing Zoro took Luffy with him as a guide around town or he'd be throwing a fit." Usopp rambled on, walking toward Sanji to over look what he was doing.

Sanji didn't say anything to him… maybe he was just too busy to notice. "Oh, tomatoes I see." Usopp said, observing the cutting board. "You know I had a hell of a time picking those!" He smirked deviously, and smugly crossed his arms. "Sure, they looked like innocent tomatoes in an innocent tomato patch from a distance, but little did I know, lurking within the plants was a-,"

Sanji slammed the knife down like one would a meat cleaver to chop off a chicken's head, and Usopp was silenced. Sanji whipped around to face him, and his face shown no amusement.

"Are you an idiot or are you just blind?" He barked, tossing the knife in the sink. It clanked loudly against the metal and made Usopp cringe along with the harsh words.

"S-Sanji?" Usopp swallowed as Sanji yanked at his apron to pull lose the strings that held it around his waist and neck, and set it aside.

"Nami has been going out of her way for you." Sanji shouted, having long since lost the ability to censor himself on this subject. He knew how Nami felt, he knew the emptiness of being rejected and ignored by someone you'd give the world for. He couldn't just sit by and let her feel that way, she didn't deserve to feel that way.

"She's been trying like hell to find a way to tell you, and it seems to me like you've been trying like hell to avoid it!" He went on. "Or are you just that dense?"

Usopp's shoulders dropped, and he looked at the floor.

"Nami is in love with you, Usopp." He said. "Whether you're running from it or you're just too stupid to notice, I think you should seriously try to get that into your fucking brain before I pound it in with my heal."

Usopp's jaw was practically on the floor by the time Sanji was finished. Sanji didn't know how much that serious, harsh though guiding voice had done for him in the past. Sanji was always the one who knew just what to say to him when he was on the verge of losing himself. Sanji stuck up for him, understood him, saw things from his side… he did that for everyone but he didn't know how much Usopp appreciated it. He didn't know… if it hadn't been for Sanji, he didn't know if he would have been able to rejoin the crew after he'd left.

Sanji was the reason he felt powerful at times. He was monstrously strong, just like Zoro and Luffy, but he still understood Usopp's weaknesses, and Choppers, and Nami's too. He took them into account, and not as liabilities, but as assets. _"You do what I can't do, I'll do what you can't do… think carefully…"_ Usopp would never forget those words. They were something he harkened back to for strength, even now. "_…If you're here, there has to be a way to save Robin."_

He was smart, talented, strong, clever, brave, considerate and honest… a whole mess of things that Ussop wasn't.

He stayed tense for at least a whole sixty seconds while Sanji just stared him down, apparently awaiting some kind of answer or explanation. Finally, Usopp forced his muscles into a relaxed state, and opened his mouth. "I know that…" He said, staring at the ground, unable to look him in the eye.

Sanji's eyes widened, and he blinked.

"I already knew she felt like that." His hands curled into fists by his sides. "I'm sorry, I know how much you care about her, and I didn't want to keep hurting her." He shut his eyes tightly. "I just didn't know what else to do."

Sanji was surprised. He'd been expecting Usopp to laugh it off, deny it, try to escape somehow. But it seemed like he'd put some thought into this.

"I have so much in my head already." He felt the tears well up in his eyes, and tried to wipe them away quickly and hold the rest back, but more just kept coming. "I can't return her feelings, so I didn't know what else to do, or how to reject them…" His lips quivered. "I could never feel that way about her because…"

He hunched his shoulders, as if a part of him was trying to curl up into a ball and hide. There was another part of him, a part that only won over on the rare occasion. The part that wanted to stand up, fight, or speak out.

"Sanji…" He swallowed, and finally lifted his head to face Sanji. The moment he saw Sanji's surprised, but still somehow concerned expression, it just came out. "I love you!" And a mess of tears came out with it. He lifted his arms to his face and tried to rub them away. "I've been in love with you all this time…" He could hardly hear himself speak, he didn't even know if Sanji could understand his words. "I know how you feel about Zoro, I watch you, so I can tell…" He sobbed.

"But I'm sorry!" His voice cracked. "I couldn't hold it back anymore…"

For a few moments, Sanji could do nothing but stand there, frozen in a mix of guilt and confusion. Usopp… had feelings for _him?_ And he knew about Zoro… even though Sanji was sure he had been hiding it, Usopp knew.

"I don't want you to feel like you have to humor me." Usopp's voice had become a little clearer now. "Not this time." He tried to suck it all back up, and then tried to laugh. "So it doesn't matter."

His entire body was shaking. "I just needed you to know because…" He looked ready to collapse. "…Maybe I can't make you happy like he can, or like Nami would, but I had to say something." His hands weren't in fists anymore, it was like he was all wiped out, his body had become completely lax. "I just want you to know that I'm here for you, no matter what." He tried to smile. It failed, and he only succeeded in coughing up a whole mess of more tears.

Sanji's narrowed sadly, and he lifted his right hand to take a drag, but ended up just pausing with the cigarette close to his lips. "Usopp…" He sighed, and his arm fell back to his side.

"You don't need to say anything." Usopp interrupted, lifting his head. That's right, he didn't expect Sanji to return his feelings. Not so soon anyway, for now, he just wanted him to know. "Like I said, it doesn't matter... we're still the same old nakama…" _…right?_

"There's something you should know…" Sanji's voice held no emotion.

Usopp looked up in wonder, blinking, his eyes red, puffy, and his cheeks still wet with smeared tears.

"My feelings for Zoro aren't like yours and Nami's." He said. "When I fantasize about happily ever after with him… I do it knowing full well it's not going to happen." He thought saying these things would hurt like hell, and they did… but it was also sort of refreshing to finally let it out. "I know he doesn't look at me like that, and on top of that probably dislikes me to some degree. If nothing else, I've long since accepted that there is no hope. At this point, I don't want these feelings to develop into something mutual, I just want them to be gone." He took a few steps forward, and stopped just a few inches in front of Usopp, hands shoved into his pockets, cigarette held loosely off his bottom lip. "I want to forget." He said.

Usopp watched his hand with wide eyes, shaking as he pulled it out of his pocket, and held it out to Usopp.

"Can you help me forget?" He asked, in a heart-breakingly shaky whisper. There was no confidence in his voice, no insistence… it was a request, and nothing more.

Usopp felt like he was dreaming as he lifted his own arm, and hesitantly touched the tips of his fingers to Sanji's. Just that tiny brush sent something electric through him, and he felt like he was going to melt. He slowly slid his fingers along side Sanji's, savoring the feel of his skin like he never thought he would.

Sanji's face was so close, it was the only thing he could see. His one uncovered heavy blue eye, his stupid swirly eyebrow, his feather-light blond hair hanging over the left side of his face. His lips, his fucking lips and that damn cigarette that was in the way…

"I want to kiss you." He breathed, having never thought he'd hear himself say those words outside of a dream.

"That so?" Sanji mumbled, looking right back into Usopp's half-hooded eyes.

"You sure you can be okay with that?" Usopp had to force the words out, wetting his dry lips with his tongue in the process. If Sanji was doing this, Usopp had to be sure that Sanji was sure or he'd face heartbreak. After all, Sanji had been in love with Zoro, and infatuated with both Nami and Robin… he wouldn't have assessed the degree but even he knew Sanji was dropping his standards a bit with this.

Sanji's smirk and snicker took Usopp by surprise. And even more so when Sanji used one hand to pinch his cigarette and remove it from his mouth, and wrapped the other arm around Usopp's waist, pulling their bodies flush against each other.

"Honestly." Sanji said, turned his head to take a drag, and then looked back at Usopp's blushing frozen face with a silly grin. "I have no idea how your brain works sometimes."

Usopp felt a squeeze and tug on the arm wrapped around his waist, and his heels lifted off the deck until his lips were the epitome of _close_ to Sanji's. He swallowed audibly, and shit eyes fluttered shut, unable to move, just waiting for the impact.

"Ah- Usopp!" Sanji's voice broke out, as if he'd suddenly realized something, but Usopp wasn't having it. He raised his hands from their positions on Sanji's shoulders and grabbed him by either side of his head, pulling him down to meet his lips.

They smashed together violently, but Usopp was quick to let it loosen up, sliding his lips across Sanji, begging for some kind of response. He'd felt Sanji jump in surprise at first, but it only took a moment for him to relax into it, now all he had to do was kiss back… _please kiss back…_

The arm around Usopp's waist tightened, and Sanji's mouth was finally moving against his. Usopp's whole body shuddered at the way his lips aligned, pressure in all the right places, the way he'd slip his tongue into the kiss, just for a moment, but then pull back to hold some likeness of innocence. Usopp had forgotten how experienced Sanji was, what with all the girls he picked up on islands as they passed by. As for himself, he'd only been with Kaya, and that was a long time ago.

The skill mixed with the utter excitement that Sanji was actually kissing him made Usopp want to melt. His legs turned to jelly, and by the end, when they both had to stop and breath he was mush up held against Sanji's chest.

Usopp's chest heaved, shaking, much more heavily than Sanji, who was simply amused by how tense Usopp was after just one kiss with hardly any tongue. He was different than Zoro would've been- most definitely. Maybe that was what Sanji needed, though. Something new, not the same old chicks, and something different from what he wanted but couldn't have.

Speaking of things he wanted but couldn't have… "Usopp!" He suddenly had Usopp by the shoulders and pulled up away to look him in the eye. "You have to talk to Nami before we take this any further."

"Me?" Usopp whined, having thought he'd gotten out of that. "Why can't you tell her?"

"Don't make me punch you. She deserves to know what's going on, and we both know she'd prefer to hear it straight from you."

"Honestly, Sanji-kun." Nami's voice rung out and both men froze stiff. "You're like a mother hen." She hopped down off the counter at the far end of the room where she'd been sitting for the past two minutes or so. "I'm not that emotionally weak." Her face looked dark at first, and for a while, neither of them were buying it. She looked up, smiling, but her eyes betrayed her sadness. "I can cut my losses and move on."

"Nami…" Usopp began, detaching himself from Sanji to turn toward her.

Nami held up her hand. "I knew it would turn out like this." She said. "You were so obvious, Usopp…" Then sighed. "Then again, I guess so was I."

Usopp didn't know what to say. He could tell she was hurting to some degree, but she said she was just going to deal with it. He couldn't decide to just let her, or find some way to comfort her.

Sanji seemed to decide for him. He walked past Usopp, and wrapped his arms around Nami's shoulders, pulling her against him for a hug. That's right, that's how it should be. Anything Usopp did may have been mistaken for leading her on, or might only make her feel worse. It was best if Sanji did it… even if he was wearing a disturbingly perverted grin when he did it.

Usopp's appreciation turned to a not very amused scowl.

"Sorry, Nami-swan." Sanji said. "I should have come to you and explained as soon as I found out." Well… at least some part of what he was doing was out of sincerity. "You shouldn't have had to see that first." Usopp shifted awkwardly from foot to foot when Nami wrapped her arms around Sanji's back. It was odd that she was returning the embrace. Under most circumstances she'd go as far as dodging it, and maybe punching him in the nose-bleeding face, but here she was hugging him back. She must've been really serious.

"You should've." She scoffed against his chest, fighting back tears. It was something she was very good at. She'd held them back for eight years while working for Arlong, she could keep them at bay for something like this. Once she was sure she secured them, she pulled her head away from Sanji, and let her arms fall away as well.

Sanji didn't move.

"Sanji, you can let go now." Usopp put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him backwards aggressively. "And wipe that creepy smile off your face, this isn't the time." He shook Sanji around, trying to joggle it away or something. It worked, surprisingly enough.

He looked at Nami. "Sorry I didn't say anything sooner." He looked down. "I… wasn't sure what I would've said."

"Don't worry about it." Nami shrugged. "I've always known you were a coward." The words hit Usopp like an arrow to the chest, and despite the fact that multiple people had given him that label, it felt heavier in this context even though he was sure she meant it with a light heart.

Sure he was afraid of dying and scary things like dark tunnels, prehistoric islands and really strong bad guys, but when it came to being confronting and dealing with his friends, he wanted to be stronger…

"That's not what I meant." He had to say something. "I just didn't know what my decision was!"

"Whatever." Nami waved over her shoulder. "I'll be fine, you guys just do your thing." She could bounce back from this, after all she was the East Blue's untouchable beauty. Romantic feelings hadn't been her thing all her life and there was no reason she couldn't go back to living without them.

Sanji and Usopp stood side by side, looking after her.

"You really think she'll be okay?" Usopp asked.

"She'll be fine." Sanji seemed quite decided by the way he through his arm around Usopp's neck and started dragging him toward the pantry.

"S-Sanji!" Usopp held onto the arm, struggling mildly. "What are you doing?"

"Lunch is supposed to be on soon." Sanji said. "I don't want to get caught again." He pulled Usopp's flailing body into the pantry with him, and slammed the door shut behind them.

**A/N- BAD Wabisuke. You should have been writing the second part to "Likeness" not doing crazy anti-ZoSan stuff like this! …Okay, not really anti-ZoSan, but… not ZoSan, anyway.**

**My first One Piece fanfiction that _isn't_ ZoSan for that matter. I didn't expect it to be Sanji x Usopp… as that's not even one of my top five favorite yaoi pairings… I kind of just barfed this up after reading a ZoSan doujinshi in which Usopp had a thing for Sanji. I just really liked the concept of that and… yeah, this ensued.**

**Not exactly a masterpiece… ehhh I dunno. Like I said, barfed this one up, so if there's OOCness and cruddy writing… deepest apologies. I been wingin' it again. Last time that seemed to work out but it doesn't always.**

**Anyway, this takes place sometime after Thriller Bark, contrary to what the fact that only Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji have any appearances. Brook, Chopper, Robin, and Franky are floating around somewhere, and Robin and Franky were at one point mentioned, but I just didn't see a place for their actual appearances since this happens over such a short time period.**

**Not to mention my crazy crackheaded head has this whole love pentagon going on here. Normally it's just one-sided Sanji to Zoro, Zoro to Luffy, Luffy to meat for me…. But here we got Nami to Usopp, Usopp to Sanji, Sanji to Zoro, and Zoro to Luffy, and then Luffy to meat. Crazy shit, guys. The Zoro to Luffy isn't mentioned in this but it's there. Lurking.**

**Funfact: I think Zoro having an unrequited crush on Luffy is the most plausible for canon popular yaoi suggestion there is (Which is not to say I believe it _is_ canon). Not just for One Piece, for any anime… aside from Yumichika and Ikkaku in Bleach 'cause you know they's fuckin'. …So I try to put at least some Zoro hearts Luffy pieces into most of my little fanfiction thingies even if they're not ZoLu.**

**I'm rambling now. I'll stop. Thank you for reading!**


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